Throughout August, the Stratford Tennis Club held its annual junior club championships in 4 separate age categories.
Competition began in the Under 18 years of age category. The girls singles final saw newcomer Rileigh Jackson take on 14 year old Nicolle Crowley. Jackson proved to be too powerful and scored an 6-1 6-2 victory to claim a Club Championship title in her first season at the Club. The boys singles was a battle of the Fischer brothers. Defending champion John faced younger brother Luke. Luke was the better player that day, taking the title with a 6-2 6-3 victory.
The Fischer brothers then teamed up to win the boys doubles crown scoring a dominating 6-0 6-0 win over Ryan Lay and Marcel Lundrigan in the final. For the second year in a row, the mixed doubles champions are Crowley and Lay. The impressive young team upset Kaitlyn Mathieson and Grant McPherson 6-4 6-4 in the title match.
Under 16 was the next age group to crown champions. Nicolle Crowley won her second straight singles title in this age category by defeating Kaitlyn Mathieson 6-0 6-0 in the final. The boys singles title went to Luke Fischer who downed Ryan Lay 6-2 6-0 in the championship match. The boys doubles champions were Matt Vandewiel and Jared Larder who scored an impressive 6-1 6-1 win over Lay and Marcel Lundrigan in the final. The mixed doubles final saw a reversal of the under 18 result with Kaitlyn Mathieson and Grant McPherson taking the title with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Crowley and Lay.
The Under 14 category followed. Nicolle Crowley took her third straight girls singles title in this age category. Crowley took out Amelia Jackson 6-0 6-0 in the title match. The boys singles winner was Luke McCarroll who downed Kadin Dench 6-1 7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker) in the final. The boys doubles final was one of the best matches of the junior championships. Dench and Ethan Misener edged McCarroll and Stefan Andrekovic 6-2 3-6 6-4 to claim the championship.
The final events were in the Under 12 category. Ashley Humphrey repeated as the girls singles champion scoring a 6-2 6-3 victory over Amelia Jackson in the title match. Ethan Misener took the boys singles championship taking out Ronan McCarroll 6-1 6-2 in the final. The girls doubles saw Humphrey team with Isabelle Thibeault to win the title , downing Jackson and Lauren Okrainec 6-3 6-1 in the final. The boy’s doubles crown went to Misener and McCarroll who defeated Michael Enright and Matthew Furlong 6-2 6-0 in the championship match.
Bill White
